Finding Oneself
by AZ1087653
Summary: The inner monologue of someone who acts like he is a child is not necessarily on the same maturity level. Just because a person is comfortable enough in his own skin to live life like it is a boundless treasure chest of awesomeness does not mean his thoughts are barren.


I haven't written anything in what seems like forever, but this idea has been in my head for years and finally decided to interrupt my sleep because the thought apparently needed to be typed into the computer. Thus, here is my venture into One Piece, a series I am currently binge-watching for the umpteenth time because it's just so much fun to watch!

This was, literally, written at one in the morning and is not beta-ed. I don't own One Piece, though I am collecting the DVDs, not that such a thing amounts to much.

/GG/

Finding Oneself

Sounds of the ship are hard to miss when one is within one's own thoughts. For the captain of a ship, the sounds of his or her crew going about their lives is the best sound they can ask for, even if said captain sometimes acts like a ten year old child awaiting a gift of enormous means. The inner monologue of someone who acts like he is a child is not necessarily on the same maturity level. Just because a person is comfortable enough in his own skin to live life like it is a boundless treasure chest of awesomeness does not mean his thoughts are barren.

Laughter, intermixed with the sounds of gulls and the waves lapping up against the hull were music to the ears of the captain of the Thousand Sunny, and even in his most juvenile, those sounds were what kept him from caring about much of anything, save looking forward, toward the horizon at all the possible new adventures yet to come.

Monkey D, Luffy sat on his perch much like a gargoyle, staring out at the vast ocean as it ate away at the ship beneath his behind. He could hear his friends as they chattered away and it made him smile. They, a major part of his One Piece, were looking for their own, even if they didn't know it, yet.

How? He even asked himself this very question on countless occasions. How had he discovered the One Piece before his crew? After all, there were two scholars on board, though he thought maybe Robin had figured out the mystery of the One Piece and just kept it to herself. That was what Robin did best.

"Sanji, more fruit cocktail, please!" Luffy heard Nami call out to the cook, who instantly responded.

"Right away, Nami-schwan!"

The captain smiled as he thought about his navigator. _What is her One Piece?_ he mused. _Maybe it has grown since the desire to create the perfect set of sea charts was planted into her brain._ Nami was one of those who claimed to find money more important than anything, and who wouldn't if one of the most important people in her short life had been taken because of a lack of money. That was many years ago, though, and she had grown. Sure, she growled, charged interest on unnecessary things, and tried to collect treasure. Luffy smiled, _I'll bet her treasure is something different now!_

Luffy turned around and stared at his friends, smile never dimming. He could see Sanji deliver food to the two ladies with the type of flourish only he with his magical legs could manage. What was the cook's One Piece? Dark, yet playful eyes could guess that while his blonde haired companion ogled the ladies like they were the prize heifer at a fair, it was more likely he wanted to see his dream come true. That was the One Piece, a person's dream, or amalgam of dreams, such as the amalgam of oceans joining to create the All Blue.

Crash!

"Zoro, don't throw your weights from the crow's nest, they will destroy the deck!"

Both Usopp and Franky ran from two different parts of the ship with looks of pure horror on their faces. Luffy suppressed a laugh as much as he normally would, which wasn't at all. The ensuing chaos was just what he wanted. Sometimes his thoughts were going at full blast, which was one of the reasons he spoke so simply. When one has a billion things bouncing around the brain, it's only natural for the spoken word to be simple and straight to the point.

"Don't laugh, Luffy, get down here and help get this weight out of the deck so we can patch it up!" Usopp cried, causing Luffy to laugh even louder and roll off his special seat.

"This is not super in any way!" Franky grunted, lifting the weight on his own, which in turn made Usopp scowl. That led to a chorus of giggles from both Luffy and Robin.

 _Usopp's One Piece is still the same,_ Luffy internalized. _He wants to prove to himself that he is as good as the rest of us. Too bad he doesn't know he's already found his One Piece._

"Take this weight up to Zoro," Franky said, handing the thing off to Luffy, who instantly dropped it onto said shipwright's foot. Again the captain had to suppress a giggle, something he still hadn't mastered yet. "It's a good thing that foot is metal or that would have hurt."

"Sorry, Franky," Luffy sputtered, still trying not to grin like an idiot. Franky just shook his head and walked off, probably to grab the provisional boards to fix the hole in the deck.

Luffy hunkered down and peered into the hole that marred his beautiful ship. Most people would have been furious at such a calamity, but Luffy didn't even bat an eye. He had the best crew of friends in the universe, so he wasn't at all worried. He knew Franky would fix up his Sunny like new, making sure the grains of the wood lined up just right, and the sealing wax was perfectly proportioned on every beam.

 _I should ask what his new dream is,_ Luffy said to himself. Dreams are like water, they change over time. The blue haired shipwright had mastered one dream, so a new one undoubtedly took its place. The One Piece is also ever-changing, because dreams are as ongoing as the vastness of space.

"Luffy-san, perhaps it is best if you accompany me to the kitchen and let the others fix the hole."

Leave it to the resident musician to bring up food. Brook was as much a food lover as he, so Luffy was more than willing to join the living skeleton in raiding the kitchen, especially since it looked as if Sanji was trying to woo the girls.

"Meat!" Luffy all but hollered as he jumped from a crouch and made a beeline for the kitchen, the clack of Brooks' shoes not far behind. The raven headed captain was anything but stupid, so he already knew what Brooks' One Piece was. _Death, the unattainable for certain individuals. Sad how some people want for everlasting life, but those who have it wish for life to cease._

At least with the rest of the crew, the dreams were realistic, some even tangible. Hell, most of the world's idea of the One Piece could be attained, but for poor Brook that might never be the case. Luffy listened for the rustle of the other's clothes as they entered the kitchen. _Perhaps part of my One Piece is to help Brook die?_ Such a morbid thought to come from a cheerful head. Luffy bounced to the refrigerator, which had been left unlocked and started to gobble down anything not in a container.

"You know, Brook," he said, mouth full of sliced meat from some quadruped Sanji had killed on the last island. "This is one of your best ideas!" Luffy grinned around the masticated carcass in his mouth and offered his companion a slice of the same.

Brook smiled, took the proffered meat and raised it in a toast. "To us, Luffy-san. May all our dreams come true!"

Within moments of the word _true_ the kitchen door all but flew off the hinges and an irate cook ran into the room. "You won't be alive long enough to have any more dreams if you don't get out of here!" he boomed, emitting a foreboding aura. Luffy could swear he could see pastel colors swirling about Sanji's person and it mystified him to the point where he dropped his latest handful of food onto the floor, causing said colors to change from a rainbow of color to harsh reds and oranges. "Out!" Sanji roared.

"It's okay, Sanji-san, I will escort these two away so you can create a new dish fit for a king."

Instantly the reds and oranges were replaced by shades of pink and white, intermixed with other colors in small amounts. Luffy was drawn to the colors like a moth to a flame and was just about to touch some of the swirls when an arm wrapped around his shoulder and he was carefully led away from the lovelorn cook.

"Now would not be the best time, Luffy," Robin whispered in his ear, though how she managed that from across the room was a mystery even Sherlock would never be able to decipher.

Belly full, Luffy didn't argue, nor did he even recall his mind going blank from his earlier thoughts. He loved it when his thoughts dissolved into nothingness, for even though he had the intelligence, what was the point in overworking his brain when life was one big rollercoaster ride waiting to offer thrills? For the most part he'd say he spent eighty percent of his day or more with very little running through his head; it was that extra twenty that found him deep in thought.

 _Robin's One Piece is still growing, too,_ he thought. Her random arm left his body as she made her way back toward the lounge chairs normally occupied by the females on his crew of friends. With everything she'd been through it would not have surprised Luffy if her One Piece was as deep as the ocean.

"Luffy!"

The captain was momentarily shocked from his reverie as Chopper ran to his legs, grabbed hold of his pants, and looked up at his face with pleading eyes. "Yes?" One word was more than enough to convey everything he needed to say in that moment. Why waste energy on words when there is a better use for the energy in one's body?

"Usopp and I are bowling with cannon balls and empty bottles of sake! Come play!"

Such a request cannot be denied and Luffy immediately started bouncing around the deck like a grasshopper. His hat bounced off his head and landed on his back while he and the pint-sized reindeer made a beeline for Usopp and his makeshift bowling alley.

"Usopp, you are a genius!" Luffy hollered in delight as he grabbed three cannon balls and started hurling them at the bottles at the end of the lane. How they didn't shatter was beyond anyone's comprehension, not that Luffy was even bothering to think about that.

"Well, of course. After all, I've been written up in the dictionary under the word genius!" Usopp loved to praise himself.

Chopper, clapping at Luffy's antics stopped mid-clap. "Really, Usopp?" The stars in his eyes transferred to Luffy's instantly and both stared at the Great Usopp, who started to ramble about some stroke of brilliance he'd had about fifty years prior.

Luffy, true to his nature started to tune his friend out, but found himself watching his doctor's enthralled face. _Chopper's One Piece is one I cannot fathom._ The tiny reindeer had wanted friends, which he now had. He also wanted to be a doctor. Check. So what was the youngest member of the Straw Hat Crew's One Piece? The captain had no idea, and in that moment he made a vow to at least ask at some point. A captain's job is to support his crew, so finding out what everyone's One Piece was something he could do…eventually. Not to mention assist every part of his family in finding their deepest desires.

A number of hours and a few more holes to the ship later, Luffy was back on his perch enjoying the sunset tease the open waters. If he listened closely he could almost hear the melody of the waves as they hit the sun in the distance. Said melody was accompanied by his first mate's snores. At some point the green beast had emerged from his cave of masculinity and found a resting place beneath the Sunny's head.

 _Zoro's One Piece hasn't changed in years._ Though Luffy was sure even with his friend's rather one-tracked mind, only part of his One Piece was to become the world's greatest swordsman. All of the crew were deeper than they let on, so deep down, underneath all of his surly attitude, there was more to Zoro than becoming the number one at something.

After all, look at Luffy. He wanted friends, freedom, and the chance to explore. Well, friends he had, and there were more to come. Freedom was upon him, even if at times it was hard to see due to the trouble he unintentionally caused. The chance to explore, well that was happening every minute of every hour of every day.

Let's not forget becoming King of Pirates. Well, maybe he'd already achieved such a title. A king had loyal friends, which Luffy had in spades. A king had freedom, which was something he fought for every day, such as a king should. A king also had the ability to explore, which is only possible when the first two criteria are met, along with the desire to get off one's ass and find a personal One Piece.

Gol D. Roger had indeed left the One Piece in the Grand Line, he just neglected to mention that it was by going to the Grand Line and finding oneself that one attains the One Piece. It isn't something one person can claim, but something everyone needs to find within themselves. Monkey D. Luffy figured that out, but he'd be damned if he said anything about it to anyone, after all, that would be pretty out of character for someone who was already so comfortable with himself, he inspired an entire world.


End file.
